LoRe: Have you ever received or witnessed an act of kindness?

I have been on the recieving end numerous times. Where to begin; on one occasion i was in Food Lion attempting to pay for a handful of groceries, about $30.00 worth . I though I had a $50.00 bill to pay with, but could find it nowhere. The clerk, a tall husky African American fella calmly says, I've got this! I had to do a double take, "what"! Again he says I've got this ! I couldn't believe my ears! The tears welled up in my eyes and the lump of gratitude grew in my throat as I humbly thanked this young man and blessed him repeatedly.

Re: Have you ever received or witnessed an act of kindness?

I have been on the recieving end numerous times. Where to begin; on one occasion i was in Food Lion attempting to pay for a handful of groceries, about $30.00 worth . I though I had a $50.00 bill to pay with, but could find it nowhere. The clerk, a tall husky African American fella calmly says, I've got this! I had to do a double take, "what"! Again he says I've got this ! I couldn't believe my ears! The tears welled up in my eyes and the lump of gratitude grew in my throat as I humbly thanked this young man and blessed him repeatedly.

Re: Have you ever received or witnessed an act of kindness?

Acts of kindness remind me of a lesson I learned early in life. Every time I helped someone just because it was the right thing to do, sooner or later a piece of good luck would come my way when I really needed it. When I, on the other hand, did something I knew was wrong, I would end up having a really bad piece of luck and at just that moment I would think of the bad thing I had done. I took this as a message and tried to do better. Doing the right thing is it's on reward is really true.

Re: Have you ever received or witnessed an act of kindness?

I witnessed an act of kindness last night on my commute home that has stuck with me. I work in downtown Washington DC and commute via metro train. 5:00 is a busy time on the street, with crowded sidewalks and folks hustling to get home. There is a visually impaired older gentleman who works nearby and rides the metro -- I see him regularly and I'm impressed with how adeptly he navigates with his long cane. Last night, I saw him a half a block or so ahead of me, crossing the wide, busy cross street leading to the metro station -- but his path was leading him into a long row of metal newspaper vending boxes on the far curb. I witnessed a young man -- probably early 20's -- who saw this situation developing and quickly stepped in to help guide the gentleman around the newspaper boxes and safely onto the curb. At the same time, a young woman -- also probably early 20's -- came across the sidewalk from the opposite direction and asked the gentleman if he'd like any assistance. The gentleman asked if she would mind guiding him to the top of the metro escalator, so she took his arm and, as I walked passed them I heard her ask "So, how has your day been today?," striking up friendly small talk.

I smiled having witnessed these two simple but meaningful acts of kindness in an otherwise busy sea of commuters rushing to get home. I was especially heart warmed that it was two young people who quickly, naturally stepped in to help. It reaffirms my faith that people are good.

Re: Have you ever received or witnessed an act of kindness?

Yes, I received an act of kindness from my mother's younger brother & his wife.

My stepfather walked out on us (my Mother, me & his 5 children), at the beginning of 1959, I was 9 1/2 at the time & my mother's brother & his wife gave me a home, they couldn't have children of their own & when they took me in it placed a great strain on their relationship, as Dad had had Mum all to himself for 15 years suddenly he had to share her, although she still doted on him as before, she also convinced him to take in my youngest brother 2 years later,increasing the strain even more. Dad eventually settled down to having an instant family. Where I would have ended up if not for them I don't know, but I'm extremely grateful to them both, they are both dead now (Dad 17 years & Mum 14years), I miss them every day more & more.

Re: Have you ever received or witnessed an act of kindness?

Many years ago, I had started a new job. At the same time, I was in the midst of a bankruptcy and my ex-husband was suing me for child support (my 2 girls had recently and willingly gone to live with their father). I had just purchased a "new to me car" and that was the bright spot - to have reliable transportation. As luck would have it, about two weeks after purchase, a car stopped suddenly as I was proceeding to the off ramp on a highway and I rear ended him. To say I was upset is an understatement. He was righteously angry. Only going 35 miles per hour, there was still much damage to my car and very little to his. All I could think about was that I was grateful to have insurance, but how was I going to pay the deductible? I had shared my story with my boss and she was very sympathetic. I was out of work for a day and a half with "whiplash" - which is a real thing. When I returned to the office, there was a card on my desk with the full amount of the deductible, signed by the staff that I worked with and a note indicating that nothing more needed to be said. I sat and cried, of course, with relief and gratitude. When approached about random acts of kindness, this will always be at the forefront of my experiences.

Re: Have you ever received or witnessed an act of kindness?

I was out to dinner with a few relatives when I collapsed on the floor with a cardiac arrest. My aunt (a retired nurse) tried giving me CPR, but just did not have the strength. Luckily, a young man out for a few drinks with his wife and friends overheard the waitress ask the bartender to call 911. This gentleman just happened to be a nurse supervisor at the cardiac care unit of a local hospital. He left his wife and friends to see if he could lend a hand. Well, he lent two hands, and performed CPR on me for 6 minutes before my heart started beating and I came to. The EMTs arrived and carried me off to the hospital (the hospital he works at), and he came by every day that he was on duty to make sure I was still surviving. I think he felt responsible for my life after his unselfish act.

There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about my "heroic angel" and his act of kindness!

Five years later, I'm living my best life thanks to Clyde Tinner from The Ortenzio HeartCenter at Geisinger-Holy Spirit HospitalCamp Hill, PA.

Re: Have you ever received or witnessed an act of kindness?

I was given an act of kindness for doing an act of kindness. As I left my dentist office parking lot several years ago, a woman's car on the street appeared to be stalled and/or wouldn't start. It was a steady rain and I stopped because that's what I'd want someone to do for my wife if she were stranded. I asked her a couple of questions and figured out her battery was about 6 years old and mostly dead, so I jump started her car. I was only getting mildly wet in the rain. I'd been a mechanic for a short stent early in life and told her what was wrong and told her not to shut the car off until she got home or to her mechanic to replace the battery.

Little did I know that my dentist and hygienist were watching everything from the second floor above the street. When I got home that night, my wife wanted to know what the message on the answering machine from the dentist was about. He said he was so impressed by what I had done in the rain, he gave me a $50 credit on my bill, which I think was more than the visit cost. After I explained to my wife what had happened, I got another act of kindness that night. ;-)

Re: Have you ever received or witnessed an act of kindness?

Yes I did receive an act of Kindness a few yrs ago.My husband is a Marine so we have stickers all over our cars.Once in a while you had to giggle & clean the top of the battery if it stalled, needless to say, we needed a new battery.I got stuck at my bank on a Sunday. I tried to fix it myself, hood up, cleaned the crap out of the battery as Several Cars rode by.Finally a man came rushing up asking what was wrong, saying, " Who could pass up helping someone with all those Marine stickers?" He fixed the problem, I thanked him and was VeryAppreciative.They say if you do a good deed for someone, and don't go and tell anyone or brag about it, GOD will reward you.Seems like some days when I have done that, low & behold I get a parking space right at the front of a store!! Works for me.